Taboo Online

Mud burst beneath Luke’s boots. The impact drove him backward until his heel pressed against the gate, and pain shot through both shoulders as the wooden shaft flexed dangerously between his hands.

The tendril kept pushing.

Somewhere beyond those roots, Lauren was fighting whatever trial had taken her. This thing was not reaching her.

"You’re not getting through!"

Luke shoved the tendril upward, turned beneath it, and released Arcane Thrust.

His remaining mana surged along the spearhead as the weapon pierced the limb and plunged into the center of the puddle.

Arcane energy exploded beneath the surface, causing the entire pool to burst apart. Black water rained across the shelter and sank harmlessly into the soil.

[You have defeated the Black Rain Flood.]

Luke remained on one knee with both hands wrapped around the spear. His arms shook from the impact as a new message appeared.

[The Third Wave shall commence in ten minutes.]

He stared at it.

"Ten minutes?"

The first wave had given him only five seconds, while the second had attacked almost immediately. Whatever came next was dangerous enough for the system to give him ten full minutes to prepare, and that was not reassuring.

Luke pulled his spear from the mud and checked the Root Gate. The roots remained intact, although black water stained their surface.

He crouched and placed one hand against them.

"Lauren?"

Silence answered him.

Luke leaned closer.

"Can you hear me?"

Nothing moved beneath the ground.

The urge to start digging returned, but he forced it down. The system had already shown him what would happen if he abandoned the gate. The Black Rain had nearly reached it, and only Luke’s body had stopped the final tendril from striking the roots.

Lauren needed him to stay here.

He sat with his back against the gate and rested the spear across his legs. Slow breaths gradually steadied his heartbeat, though each inhale made his bruised ribs ache.

Once the rush of battle faded, Luke realized how long Lauren had been silent.

He had not heard her since the earth swallowed her. During the fight, survival had occupied every thought, but now his imagination filled the silence with things he did not want to see.

He pictured Lauren trapped beneath the soil while roots closed around her and something from the Black Rain searched for a way in.

Luke shut his eyes.

"No."

Losing his head would not help her.

The system had called this a trial and given them separate tasks. Lauren had to overcome whatever waited beyond the Root Gate, while Luke kept the Black Rain from interfering.

That was everything he knew, and for now, it had to be enough.

Lauren still did not understand everything Oracle’s Glimpse could do. Using it too much hurt her, and whatever happened during the trial would probably force her to push the ability further than ever.

None of that meant she would give up. If anything, Lauren had a habit of pushing herself too hard whenever someone needed her.

Luke rested his head against the roots.

"I’m handling my part," he murmured. "You handle yours."

Thinking back on his earlier panic made him wince. Attacking the ground had been understandable after Lauren vanished right in front of him, but he had nearly forgotten everything else around him.

Being scared was not the problem. Becoming useless because of it was.

Luke looked toward the entrance.

Black rain continued falling beyond the shelter. The barrier had not repaired itself, and dark streams still slipped through the gaps, though no new puddles had formed.

Powerforge was supposed to be a game, but Luke no longer trusted that word to mean safe. Abilities followed players into the real world. Pain felt real, and so did the physical changes. The Bureau would not have built an entire supervised facility around awakened players if logging out solved every danger.

Pretending none of this mattered because it happened inside a game would have been bullshit.

Still, the system had given him clear instructions. He needed to protect the gate, survive the waves, and wait for Lauren to finish her trial.

That was simple enough.

His status window showed mana returning once he remained still.

[Mana: 8/50]

The number climbed slowly at first, then more steadily as his breathing settled. By the middle of the break, more than half had returned, and Luke’s mana was almost full when the countdown approached its end.

His body recovered much less successfully.

Quickstep had spared him from serious injuries during the first wave, but the constant movement left his legs heavy. The tendrils had bruised his ribs, opened a shallow cut along his arm, and left both shoulders aching from the final impact.

Luke examined his spear next. The wooden shaft had flexed badly when he blocked the enormous tendril, but it had returned to its original shape. He ran both hands along the wood, searching for cracks or splinters.

Finding none, he tested the balance with a careful thrust and confirmed that the weapon remained usable.

A few minutes later, Luke stood and studied the shelter.

Mud and shallow craters covered the ground. Broken roots created obstacles near the entrance, while the area around the Root Gate remained mostly clear.

Luke dragged several thick branches toward the middle and arranged them with narrow gaps between each one. The crude barricade would not stop anything powerful, but it might force the next monster to approach from a predictable direction.

He had no idea what the third wave would bring, yet preparing something still felt better than waiting.

As the countdown continued, Luke watched his mana rise and tested the spear shaft again. With only a minute remaining, he rolled his shoulders, ignored the pain in his ribs, and took position several steps in front of the Root Gate.

[Mana: 48/50]

That would have to be enough.

The final seconds passed without anything appearing, but Luke remained still.

Mud near the shelter entrance began to ripple, and the movement quickly spread through every patch of wet soil.